Implicit Confirmation of Money Received by Mohammad-Reza Bahonar

The newspaper Etimad reported on the increase in questions from members of parliament to the 'economic ministers' of the eleventh government, stating: 'Since the beginning of the eleventh government's activities until the end of January, more than 1,038 questions have been asked of the economic ministers.' The Iran newspaper, in its front page on Tuesday, quoted Eshaq Jahangiri, the first vice president of Hassan Rouhani and head of the headquarters for combating economic corruption, stating: 'Those who claim integrity have committed the greatest corruptions.' The Jomhouri Islami newspaper published reactions from some parliament members regarding 'receiving money from Mohammad-Reza Rahimi,' reporting on 'implicit confirmation of money received by Bahonar.' The Khorasan newspaper noted that 'these days, the name Mohammad-Reza Bahonar is more frequently mentioned as the man of the parliament lobbies and the longest-serving representative in the Iranian parliament, especially after Rahimi's claims about payments to conservative candidates in the eighth parliament, where Rahimi's lawyer specifically mentioned Bahonar's involvement.' The Shargh newspaper also reported that Mohammad-Reza Bahonar stated on Tuesday: 'If a group of conservative rivals, namely reformists, want to use the fact that eight years ago conservative candidates received five million in funds of dubious origin for elections, they are engaging in electoral misconduct.' While the Jomhouri Islami, Khorasan, and Shargh newspapers highlighted the payments from Mohammad-Reza Rahimi to 'members of parliament,' the Javan newspaper in its front page on February 3 referred to 'legal gaps' regarding the financial activities of parties, stating 'Illuminate the dark corners of party financial flows.' The Qanoon newspaper published a report about the fate of the 'Karaj circle,' naming Mohammad-Reza Rahimi, Ali Kordan, and Mohammad Jahromi as three key figures who helped Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rise to power in the judiciary, state broadcasting, and Guardian Council, respectively. The Iran newspaper, while publishing a report on the 'dust storm crisis,' emphasized that 'no one is taking responsibility for the dust storm crisis.' The Shahrevand newspaper reported on its front page that 'the largest currency fraud network in Iran has been dismantled.' This newspaper wrote: 'Economic problems and currency fluctuations were enough for 11 criminals to establish a currency fraud network. The leader of this gang, who introduced himself as a senior expert from the Central Bank, was a seasoned fraudster.' The Kayhan newspaper emphasized on its front page that 'the people's expectation from the nuclear agreement is the complete lifting of sanctions.' However, the Shahrevand newspaper reported that, quoting Mohammad Javad Zarif, the foreign minister of the Islamic Republic who was visiting Kenya, in a meeting with members of the Iranian business council in Kenya, he mentioned some resistances against the removal of illegal sanctions, stating: 'Unfortunately, some inside and outside the country are among the opponents of ending sanctions and pursue the continuation of sanctions for their own interests.' The Jahan San'at newspaper dedicated its front page to handwoven carpets, reporting with the headline 'The Back of Handwoven Carpets is Broken,' quoting Reza Miri, vice president of the union of handwoven carpet exporters, stating: 'Reasons such as high inflation rates, rising currency rates, and cash subsidies to the people have combined to increase the production costs of Iranian carpets to the point where some carpet producers are producing in India and Pakistan.' The share of 'economic ministers' of the eleventh government from parliamentary pressure; 1,038 questions in 18 months. The Etimad newspaper reported on the increase in questions from members of parliament to 'economic ministers' of the eleventh government, stating: 'Since the beginning of the eleventh government's activities until the end of January, more than 1,038 questions have been asked of the economic ministers.' Zahra Ali-Akbari, in the Etimad report, noted the presence of Ali Tayebnia, the economy minister, on Tuesday to answer three questions from Hamid Rasayi, Masoud Mir-Kazemi, and Mousavi Largani in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, stating that the total number of questions asked from the ministers of the eleventh cabinet since the beginning of Hassan Rouhani's government until the end of January has been '1,588 questions: with 1,038 of these questions from economic ministers, the economy holds a significant share in the questions from the members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly.' The Etimad newspaper emphasized that 'the multitude of questions being asked is gradually becoming one of the serious concerns of the ministers,' reminding that 'in the first to seventh terms of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, a total of 1,554 questions were submitted to the ministers. The total number of questions submitted in the eighth parliament was 3,453 questions, but the ninth parliament has only 'in the one and a half-year term of the eleventh government asked 1,588 questions from the ministers,' and studies show 'the number of questions from members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly to the ministers of the eleventh government has experienced an increasing trend each month compared to the previous month, so that the multitude of questions raised has also caused objections from the president and his parliamentary deputy.' This newspaper detailed the process of questioning and the time for ministers' responses in commissions and the parliament's floor, stating: 'From the time a representative submits a question to the presiding board until it is announced to the minister and placed on the commission's agenda, three days are needed. Ministers have a maximum of 30 minutes to respond to each question in the commission, and if the representative is not satisfied with the minister's statements, the question is raised in the open session according to the agenda. In the open session, the commission's report containing the question and the investigations conducted by the commission's spokesperson is presented for a maximum of five minutes, then the minister and the questioning representative present their explanations in turn, each for a maximum of 15 minutes. The final voting to determine the outcome takes about five minutes. Thus, the process of questioning ministers in the commission and the parliament's floor takes about 70 minutes. The Etimad newspaper wrote: 'If the basis for calculating the time needed for responding to representatives' questions is the 30 minutes determined in the commission, the economic ministers of the eleventh government need 31,140 minutes to respond to the representatives' questions. This means that the economic ministers need 64 working days to be able to respond to the multitude of questions from the members of parliament. The total time needed and considering each working hour for each day for responding to all questions (economic and non-economic) is estimated to be more than 97 days, thus it is necessary for the ministers of the cabinet to dedicate all their working hours to responding to the representatives' questions for more than one season.' According to this newspaper, Hamid Chitchian, the energy minister, 'not only among his economic colleagues but also among all cabinet colleagues, ranks first in the number of questions received from parliament, having received 198 questions from representatives since the beginning of the eleventh government until the end of January.' The Etimad newspaper also mentioned that 'the least questions among economic ministers have been asked of the minister of economic affairs and finance, with 103 questions submitted by members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly to Ali Tayebnia, and in the entire eleventh cabinet, 'the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics received the least questions, namely 13 questions from representatives.' Additionally, 'seven of Rouhani's ministers have received yellow cards from the Islamic Consultative Assembly. Three of these seven ministers are members of the economic team of the cabinet, and among the economic ministers, Mohammad-Reza Nemat-Zadeh has received two yellow cards from representatives, while Ali Tayebnia, the minister of economic affairs and finance, and Ali Rabiei, the minister of labor, welfare, and social affairs, have each received one yellow card from the parliament.' The Etimad newspaper, reviewing the number of 'warnings' from representatives to Hassan Rouhani's government, wrote: 'Statistical analyses show that from the first day of the eleventh government's ministers' activities until the end of January of this year, ministers have received 5,352 warnings from members of parliament. This means that members of parliament have given more than 10 warnings to Hassan Rouhani's ministers every day, and 'the economic ministers have also claimed the top position in this regard, having received 3,422 warnings from the total warnings of members of parliament. The president himself has also received 882 warnings from members of parliament during this period.' Eshaq Jahangiri, the first vice president of Hassan Rouhani, stated on Tuesday during the inauguration of two dams in Khorramabad, accusing the previous government, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government, of 'the greatest corruptions,' saying: 'People expect problems to be solved with planning; if problems were to be solved with slogans, the most slogans in the history of the country for fighting corruption would have been given during the previous term, but the greatest corruptions of the century occurred.' Eshaq Jahangiri also stated: 'In these years, many slogans have been given, and we have also spent part of our lives with slogans,' but complex issues 'require prudence and planning; we should never let those who distract the government with a series of slogans to entertain the people.' The Iran newspaper also published Jahangiri's reaction to the statements of Ahmad Jannati, the secretary of the Guardian Council and Imam of Tehran, quoting Eshaq Jahangiri as saying: 'We do not support the idea that people should eat one meal a day, and this is not a good statement. Even Imam [Ayatollah Khomeini] did not say such a thing during the war.' Earlier, Ahmad Jannati, in the Friday prayer of February 10, referred to 'resilient economy as the solution to economic problems,' stating: 'This requires a bit of resistance and endurance of hardships, and our people will endure it,' and 'there may come a time when we eat two meals a day; what is the problem even if conditions worsen and we eat one meal a day?' The Jomhouri Islami newspaper, while publishing reactions from some members of parliament regarding 'receiving money from Mohammad-Reza Rahimi,' reported on 'implicit confirmation of money received by Bahonar.' According to this newspaper, Mohammad-Reza Bahonar, the deputy speaker of the ninth parliament, on Tuesday 'implicitly confirmed the receipt of money from Rahimi' in response to reporters' questions, stating: 'As someone who has been active in elections, if I received and spent money, I am accountable.' This newspaper emphasized that Mohammad-Reza Rahimi's lawyer also stated that Mohammad-Reza Bahonar 'was aware of the payment of 1.2 billion tomans to 170 conservative representatives nominated for the eighth parliament, and Mr. Bahonar also received this assistance.' The Khorasan newspaper noted on its Tuesday issue: 'These days, the name Mohammad-Reza Bahonar is more frequently mentioned as the man of the parliament lobbies and the longest-serving representative in the Iranian parliament, especially after Rahimi's claims about payments to conservative candidates in the eighth parliament, where Rahimi's lawyer specifically mentioned Bahonar's involvement.' According to this newspaper, Mohammad-Reza Bahonar, the deputy speaker of the ninth parliament, held a press conference on Tuesday with the conservative news agency Tasnim, and in response to Mohammad-Reza Rahimi's letter regarding the payment of money to 170 members of parliament, he said: 'Of course, candidates who run for elections need financial resources, and candidates either spend their own money, or their campaigns receive help from the people, or sometimes, without the candidates' knowledge, supporters of the candidates pay expenses. However, candidates who seek assistance must ensure that the source of the money coming towards electoral activities is not dirty and is clean; however, it is highly likely that none of the representatives were aware that the source of this money was unclean or dirty.' Mohammad-Reza Bahonar also stated: 'If we divide the total amount that has been reported in the media as given by Mr. Rahimi to some, it comes to about 5 million tomans, and I must say that I did not receive a receipt for that money from Mr. Rahimi.' According to the Khorasan newspaper, Mohammad-Reza Bahonar, who is 'the secretary-general of the Front of Followers of the Line of Imam and Leader,' also said: 'As someone who has always been active in elections, we are also accountable if we received money, spent it, but the important thing is that this money should not be from public funds. I do not want to name any specific organization now, but there are certainly those who go into elections towards an institution and encroach or indirectly use some state companies or those affiliated with public institutions, which should be carefully monitored, and the media should also be vigilant.' The Shargh newspaper also reported that 'the organized distribution of money among 170 candidates for the eighth parliament, as mentioned by Ahmadinejad's vice president, continues to face many questions, but among all the ambiguities, only one name has been explicitly mentioned, and that is Mohammad-Reza Bahonar, the deputy speaker of the eighth and ninth parliaments.' According to this newspaper, 'After Mohammad-Reza Rahimi explained this matter in a letter to Ahmadinejad, his lawyer also stated: 'Bahonar's name appears in the case due to receiving financial assistance for representatives from Jaber Abdali. Mr. Bahonar will not attend Rahimi's court, but he has written a testimony that we will present for Rahimi's court day in the case.